1788 in art

Events

*Étienne Maurice Falconet becomes director of the Académie des beaux-arts.

Works

Births

* December 30 - Edouard Pingret, French painter and lithographer (d. 1875)
* Johan Christian Dahl - Norwegian landscape painter (d. 1857)
* John Watson Gordon - painter (d. 1864)
* Franz Pforr - painter (d. 1812)
* Felix Slade - founder of the Slade School of Art (d. 1868)
* Pierre Jean David - sculptor and engraver ("David d'Angers") (d. 1856)
* Charles de Steuben - French painter active during the Napoleonic Era (d. 1856)
* Michele Bisi - Italian engraver and painter (d. "unknown")
* Ludwig Ferdinand Schnorr von Carolsfeld - Austrian painter of primarily religious scenes (d. 1853)
* Franz Seraph Stirnbrand - Austrian painter of portraits and battle scenes (d. 1882)

Deaths

*July 15 - Jean Germain Drouais, French historical painter (b. 1763)
*August 2 - Thomas Gainsborough, English portrait painter (b. 1727)
*December 30 - Francesco Zuccarelli, Italian Rococo painter, elected in 1763 to the Venetian Academy of Fine Arts (b. 1702)
* Maurice Quentin de La Tour - French Rococo portraitist who worked primarily with pastels (b. 1704)
* Min Zhen - Chinese painter and seal carver born in Nanchang in Jiangxi (b. 1730)
* Toriyama Sekien - scholar and "ukiyo-e" artist of Japanese folklore (b. 1712)
* Matthäus Günther - German painter and artist of the Baroque and Rococo era (b. 1705)
* Solomon Gessner - Swiss painter and poet (b. 1730)
* Carlo Bonavi - Italian veduta painter (b. 1750)